Sunday, August 31, 2008
The First Week of School
Wow! I´ve done so many things in the past week. I guess I will start with Monday and try to give brief highlights before I get bored of writing or run out of time. Monday we took a day trip to Segovia and Granja Palace. In Segovia I went to my first palace and cathedral. It was tempting to buy a beautiful lace table cloth from the vender outside, especially when she was so very willing to drop the price 10€ when she saw we were not interested at the original price. I think sometime I am going to try the bartering for the fun of it. After that, we walked to the Roman Aqueduct. Very cool. It´s amazing what the Romans were able to do. With a little bit of luck I´ll get pictures later on from a friend (my camera does not have a charger till Martin comes over).
After that we went to Granja, a nearby palace, to see the fountains. PhilipV of Spain, grandson of Louis the XIV, built this palace to imitate Versailles. Most of it is baroque style and these are no ordinary fountains. They are huge with statuary and decoration. This was one of two days every year that they turn on all the main fountains. It is quite the big deal, with thousands of people gathering to see it. With all the crowds and water everywhere I managed to loose a sandal. It wasn´t as easy as you might think. It took some bad planning on my part. I´ll tell the little story.
Among the thousands of people there, there was a 100 or more young people dressed in costume. Things ranging from boys in swim trunks with Michael Phelps caps (hand written) to cows to punks to cross dressing ballerinas. It was really entertaining. I don´t know if they do this every year, but the group of young people had the firm intention of ignoring the guards and rushing the fountain for a swim. Not too much of a problem since at this fountain there was only 3 guards, the fountain was bigger than a lap swimming pool and probably 12 feet deep.
It was pretty comical to see the three guards ask people to get out of the pool, then to at least swim on one end, and quickly give up completely and turn their attention to making the sitting spectators keep their feet off the grass.
After watching this a few of my fellow students got closer and were pushed in and even more jumped intentionally. At this point I was thinking some thing about being responsible, respectful, and not wanting to be part of the raucous group if the guard finally did get their act together.
So me and a few friends continued on ooohing and aweing over the statues of Triton and Diana surrounded by fish, horses and urns shooting water 50 feet into the air.
My professor had warned us that we would get wet at this event and we needed to bring a change of clothes. As a friend and I approached the last fountain we were disappointingly dry and very hot. We pushed our way to the front of the crowd and climbed a little hill to get a front row view of the fountain. By this point we were both regretting we had not jumped in the first fountain. When we got up close we could see it was probably three feet down to the water that was probably chest deep. I had my purse, we both had our shoes, and if we jumped in there was no way we would be able to climb out.
As a side note, there is something really great about being young. I have this small amount of irresponsibility that allows me to look at a situation like that and completely ignore logical reasons not to so something.
So we jumped in. It was deeper than I thought. Since couldn't´t hold my purse out of the water the whole time, it still smells a little of pond water. My Teva sandal started to float away, but I caught it and put it back on. We made our way to the BYU students we saw on the other side. I handed my purse to a girl that had not jumped in. I put my flip flops up and I thought I said some thing like "can you take these too?" But I can´t say I really remember. We jumped around with the singing Spaniards, went under the heavy spray of the fountain, and got our picture to actually prove that we were swimming in a baroque historical artifact.
When I got out of the fountain one of my Tevas had disappeared. It was either claimed by the fountain like a penalty for our abuse to her, or just taken by someone that didn´t think jumping in the fountains was joke enough for one day. It was quite the joke. I got quite a few funny looks as I walked back to the bus with only one shoe.
Ugh... I´ve used all my time only one day. I´m want to get through this week! I really need to move faster. Tuesday was the first day of school in an actual class room. We just had a terrible placement test.
On Wednesday we had two classes though, and I didn´t understand much of either. It makes it really hard to give commentary on a poem when you only caught the first line. In one class the teacher kept asking me questions (because he found out I was married and that was some how related). The problem was, when he asked me, I was just figuring out what he said three sentences ago. Luckily I had some helpful neighbors.
All this week there has been Fairs and Fiestas in Alcalá (where I live). In the Plaza de Cervantes there is music, dancing, parades, and food. Spread through out the city there are various plays and concerts. I ended up going to the fair three nights this week. The first night, Tuesday, I tried churros bañado (bathed) en chocolate and bought a cheap but cute dress. The second night I spent the whole time talking to one of the boys in the group about what type of school we would open if we could. We just talked and followed the group as they wandered around buying souvenirs and food. The third night I went on my fair ride. I told the group I wanted to go on a ride and I motioned in the general direction of the faris wheel. They all thought that sounded fun. I pointed to the long hanging arm that spins as it swings up past a 90 degree angle to the ground. To my surprise only one person that wanted to go. The others thought it was too intense. When we actually left to get in line we were joined by one more person. It was a good ride.
Friday I don´t have school, so I spent the day in Madrid (visited a bank, Puerta del Sol, and Plaza Mayor). I came back to Acalá in time to see a traditional performance "Tuna de Alcalá," part of the fiestas. A men´s group dressed in renaissance clothes, sang, played lutes, etc... Afterwards we wandered through the streets and window shopped, and I think we headed home early. That means about 11.
Yesterday was pretty cool. I met up with some kids in the group in the Plaza de Cervantes to watch a parade. Afterwards we bought some traditional food. They put these two huge pans in the plaza, probably 5 feet across. Underneath there was a pile of sand so they could burn wood and cook the food. I don´t remember what the food was called. It sounded like the Spanish word for ants. It was good, though. Basically a stuffing with chorizo sausage, garlic, and some unidentified meats.
After that I went home to help my señora a little with food preparation. Saturday she had 14 people for dinner before they all went to a concert. Usually dinner is a light meal in Spain. I don´t know that I would call four types of meet, five salads, potatoes, bread, and various other side dishes and appetizer, light. Earlier this week I asked if some one was helping and she yes. One person was bringing one meat. They other people did also help with dessert.
She spent 7 hours in the kitchen on Friday and several more on Saturday. While she was cooking I pointed out there was going to be one salad for every three people. I think she was going to say that wasn´t right, until she realized that it was. But she said people are sure to eat a lot. She fed a total of 15 people last night, had seven friends over today for "comida" (lunch, the main meal of the day), and there is still enough that she won´t have to cook for several days. Much to my disappointment, the tiramisu and flan are actually gone after being dessert for three meals. The food was really fantastic. Despite how much I liked it, I won´t give a description of all the dishes here.
There were two extra tickets to the concert, so I called a friend and we went with the group. It was in the courtyard of the Universidad Antigua, a building several hundred years old. I am so impressed by the ancient architecture in Europe. There were three levels of pillars and arches. The symmetry of them was set off nicely by two cypress trees on the left of the stage. I don´t think that I have ever been in that type of concert where it was open to the stars.
Now I have a question for my sisters or mother. The "Orquesta de Cámara de Villa de Madrid" wasn´t an orchestra. It was an 11 piece string ensemble. Is there a name for this? I think maybe it was called "orquesta cuerda" in one place. The music was all Spanish composers, except Bizet, which was the only one I had heard of. During every other song they had a women doing traditional Spanish dance with castanets. Wow! That was beautiful.
Some thing different about Spain... Many people take a nap in the middle of the day and they stay up much later. So it wasn´t that strange for a Spanish person that this concert started at 11 pm. Although, the American temple president (a church leader) was one of the guests and he had his doubts about going to an event that ended at 1 in the morning. But, for me it meant that I slept through the first encore.
So there is my week. Almost. I guess I did go to church. I sang in the choir today. I had great leftovers. Not much that makes a good story though. But looking back at my post, I guess that hasn´t stopped me before. What will stop me is the fact that it is close to 1 in the morning and I still haven´t decided what the theme is for this poem in my homework!
Caio!
After that we went to Granja, a nearby palace, to see the fountains. PhilipV of Spain, grandson of Louis the XIV, built this palace to imitate Versailles. Most of it is baroque style and these are no ordinary fountains. They are huge with statuary and decoration. This was one of two days every year that they turn on all the main fountains. It is quite the big deal, with thousands of people gathering to see it. With all the crowds and water everywhere I managed to loose a sandal. It wasn´t as easy as you might think. It took some bad planning on my part. I´ll tell the little story.
Among the thousands of people there, there was a 100 or more young people dressed in costume. Things ranging from boys in swim trunks with Michael Phelps caps (hand written) to cows to punks to cross dressing ballerinas. It was really entertaining. I don´t know if they do this every year, but the group of young people had the firm intention of ignoring the guards and rushing the fountain for a swim. Not too much of a problem since at this fountain there was only 3 guards, the fountain was bigger than a lap swimming pool and probably 12 feet deep.
It was pretty comical to see the three guards ask people to get out of the pool, then to at least swim on one end, and quickly give up completely and turn their attention to making the sitting spectators keep their feet off the grass.
After watching this a few of my fellow students got closer and were pushed in and even more jumped intentionally. At this point I was thinking some thing about being responsible, respectful, and not wanting to be part of the raucous group if the guard finally did get their act together.
So me and a few friends continued on ooohing and aweing over the statues of Triton and Diana surrounded by fish, horses and urns shooting water 50 feet into the air.
My professor had warned us that we would get wet at this event and we needed to bring a change of clothes. As a friend and I approached the last fountain we were disappointingly dry and very hot. We pushed our way to the front of the crowd and climbed a little hill to get a front row view of the fountain. By this point we were both regretting we had not jumped in the first fountain. When we got up close we could see it was probably three feet down to the water that was probably chest deep. I had my purse, we both had our shoes, and if we jumped in there was no way we would be able to climb out.
As a side note, there is something really great about being young. I have this small amount of irresponsibility that allows me to look at a situation like that and completely ignore logical reasons not to so something.
So we jumped in. It was deeper than I thought. Since couldn't´t hold my purse out of the water the whole time, it still smells a little of pond water. My Teva sandal started to float away, but I caught it and put it back on. We made our way to the BYU students we saw on the other side. I handed my purse to a girl that had not jumped in. I put my flip flops up and I thought I said some thing like "can you take these too?" But I can´t say I really remember. We jumped around with the singing Spaniards, went under the heavy spray of the fountain, and got our picture to actually prove that we were swimming in a baroque historical artifact.
When I got out of the fountain one of my Tevas had disappeared. It was either claimed by the fountain like a penalty for our abuse to her, or just taken by someone that didn´t think jumping in the fountains was joke enough for one day. It was quite the joke. I got quite a few funny looks as I walked back to the bus with only one shoe.
Ugh... I´ve used all my time only one day. I´m want to get through this week! I really need to move faster. Tuesday was the first day of school in an actual class room. We just had a terrible placement test.
On Wednesday we had two classes though, and I didn´t understand much of either. It makes it really hard to give commentary on a poem when you only caught the first line. In one class the teacher kept asking me questions (because he found out I was married and that was some how related). The problem was, when he asked me, I was just figuring out what he said three sentences ago. Luckily I had some helpful neighbors.
All this week there has been Fairs and Fiestas in Alcalá (where I live). In the Plaza de Cervantes there is music, dancing, parades, and food. Spread through out the city there are various plays and concerts. I ended up going to the fair three nights this week. The first night, Tuesday, I tried churros bañado (bathed) en chocolate and bought a cheap but cute dress. The second night I spent the whole time talking to one of the boys in the group about what type of school we would open if we could. We just talked and followed the group as they wandered around buying souvenirs and food. The third night I went on my fair ride. I told the group I wanted to go on a ride and I motioned in the general direction of the faris wheel. They all thought that sounded fun. I pointed to the long hanging arm that spins as it swings up past a 90 degree angle to the ground. To my surprise only one person that wanted to go. The others thought it was too intense. When we actually left to get in line we were joined by one more person. It was a good ride.
Friday I don´t have school, so I spent the day in Madrid (visited a bank, Puerta del Sol, and Plaza Mayor). I came back to Acalá in time to see a traditional performance "Tuna de Alcalá," part of the fiestas. A men´s group dressed in renaissance clothes, sang, played lutes, etc... Afterwards we wandered through the streets and window shopped, and I think we headed home early. That means about 11.
Yesterday was pretty cool. I met up with some kids in the group in the Plaza de Cervantes to watch a parade. Afterwards we bought some traditional food. They put these two huge pans in the plaza, probably 5 feet across. Underneath there was a pile of sand so they could burn wood and cook the food. I don´t remember what the food was called. It sounded like the Spanish word for ants. It was good, though. Basically a stuffing with chorizo sausage, garlic, and some unidentified meats.
After that I went home to help my señora a little with food preparation. Saturday she had 14 people for dinner before they all went to a concert. Usually dinner is a light meal in Spain. I don´t know that I would call four types of meet, five salads, potatoes, bread, and various other side dishes and appetizer, light. Earlier this week I asked if some one was helping and she yes. One person was bringing one meat. They other people did also help with dessert.
She spent 7 hours in the kitchen on Friday and several more on Saturday. While she was cooking I pointed out there was going to be one salad for every three people. I think she was going to say that wasn´t right, until she realized that it was. But she said people are sure to eat a lot. She fed a total of 15 people last night, had seven friends over today for "comida" (lunch, the main meal of the day), and there is still enough that she won´t have to cook for several days. Much to my disappointment, the tiramisu and flan are actually gone after being dessert for three meals. The food was really fantastic. Despite how much I liked it, I won´t give a description of all the dishes here.
There were two extra tickets to the concert, so I called a friend and we went with the group. It was in the courtyard of the Universidad Antigua, a building several hundred years old. I am so impressed by the ancient architecture in Europe. There were three levels of pillars and arches. The symmetry of them was set off nicely by two cypress trees on the left of the stage. I don´t think that I have ever been in that type of concert where it was open to the stars.
Now I have a question for my sisters or mother. The "Orquesta de Cámara de Villa de Madrid" wasn´t an orchestra. It was an 11 piece string ensemble. Is there a name for this? I think maybe it was called "orquesta cuerda" in one place. The music was all Spanish composers, except Bizet, which was the only one I had heard of. During every other song they had a women doing traditional Spanish dance with castanets. Wow! That was beautiful.
Some thing different about Spain... Many people take a nap in the middle of the day and they stay up much later. So it wasn´t that strange for a Spanish person that this concert started at 11 pm. Although, the American temple president (a church leader) was one of the guests and he had his doubts about going to an event that ended at 1 in the morning. But, for me it meant that I slept through the first encore.
So there is my week. Almost. I guess I did go to church. I sang in the choir today. I had great leftovers. Not much that makes a good story though. But looking back at my post, I guess that hasn´t stopped me before. What will stop me is the fact that it is close to 1 in the morning and I still haven´t decided what the theme is for this poem in my homework!
Caio!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Más, más, y más
The last two days have been busy! I went back to the airport on Friday to meet with the group and go to Alcalá de Henares to be picked up by my host family. I got to be introduced and try and make conversation in Spanish with my Senñora, Mariola. I used the phrases "repeta, por favor¨ and ¨¿pardón?" a whole lot. After eating lunch and spending a few hours unpacking, the group met at Plaza de Cervantes and did a little walking tour of down town Alcalá de Henares. An elderly man from Malaga stopped to ask where our group was from, because he thought the women were beautiful. Then he recited a poem to us (ahh, now we know he wanted a chance to show off). It was something about how to treat beautiful women. But all I caught was ¨Mujeres," "Malaga," and some thing about shaking hands (or maybe it was not shaking hands).
We walked by many cute little shops, panderias, an internet cafe and places with much cooler dresses than you can find in the US. But the items were that were supposed to be of interest were probably the Plaza de las Inglaterras, the house of Cervantes, a cathedral magistral (one of two in Europe, it is this because it was integrated with the university, I think), the Universidad Antigua, etc... I did think that all this things were pretty darn cool too. After that, more attempts at Spanish conversation at home. Luckily Mariola´s husband asked a lot of the same questions as she had earlier in the day, so it was a little bit like getting a retake on a quiz.
Today was the first real day in Madrid. Again, we did sort a sort of walk by introduction with the group. There was a lot of beautiful baroque government buildings, museums, the park retiro, etc... We actually did get to go to the national archeology museum. Though it was small compared to other museums I have been to, it had an excellent representative artifacts from major periods of history. It wasn´t "pre-history" archeology so it went from arrow heads to baroque sarcophagus.
After that it was off to the botanical gardens with a small group for a picnic lunch. Then we headed for el Museo de Reina Sophia, the modern art museum in Madrid. I got to see Picasso´s Guernica. It´s BIG and very popular. In the room all to it´s self there is a constant group jostling to be able to see over each other´s shoulders. Text book picture don´t do it justice. I´m a little embarrassed to say, I was mildly surprised that it really is in gray colors and that wasn´t just because my textbook publishers were cheap.
I can´t say that I really appreciated the museum though, even if Guernica was awesome. I need to go relearn the significance of the modern art movements and painters. Then on a Saturday when Marty is here (Saturdays are free) I´ll go back. There are, however, some things I just don´t want to appreciate. I was interested to see Dalí´s work, as he is probably the most famous surrealist and the only one I know by name. But in the BYU humanities class they failed to mention that some of his works were far beyond a pg-13 rating. This wasn´t the violent Guernica sort of content. I´m sure he has a great point, but I don´t really want to know what it was any more. I´ll spend that time on one of the other floors.
My little group headed back to the train station so we could head home for the evening. As we were waiting on a bench, one of the girls realized that the train behind us was going to the same place we wanted to be. So she called to get up and run on. She did this as the train was beeping. We realized, as we looked at her through the windows of the closed doors, that the beeping means something. It means you should have ran faster. She had a few minutes of panic and we had a brief moment of sympathy. We caught a train a few minutes later and she didn´t have to wait long. Which is good, because she thought she needed the group ticket that we had to get out of the station (turns out you don´t but none of us knew that at the time).
After that I had a little adventure with Carrefour (Spain´s Walmart) and a misunderstading with the bus system. But that´s ok. Walking is good for your health, right?
The disadvantage was that by the time I got home I didn´t really have time or energy to shower and go to the city festival to meet up with some othr girls. So I wrote on my blog instead!
P.S. I did find my house/familia, Mom. They are very nice. They have wi-fi (pronounced wee-fee here) and don´t mind if I use their computer (fantastic!). They are both members, which is helpful (and not because it means I don´t have to take the bus to church. Church is only a block away). Tomorrow I go to the Spanish ward and on Monday we go to see the fountains at Granja Palace.
We walked by many cute little shops, panderias, an internet cafe and places with much cooler dresses than you can find in the US. But the items were that were supposed to be of interest were probably the Plaza de las Inglaterras, the house of Cervantes, a cathedral magistral (one of two in Europe, it is this because it was integrated with the university, I think), the Universidad Antigua, etc... I did think that all this things were pretty darn cool too. After that, more attempts at Spanish conversation at home. Luckily Mariola´s husband asked a lot of the same questions as she had earlier in the day, so it was a little bit like getting a retake on a quiz.
Today was the first real day in Madrid. Again, we did sort a sort of walk by introduction with the group. There was a lot of beautiful baroque government buildings, museums, the park retiro, etc... We actually did get to go to the national archeology museum. Though it was small compared to other museums I have been to, it had an excellent representative artifacts from major periods of history. It wasn´t "pre-history" archeology so it went from arrow heads to baroque sarcophagus.
After that it was off to the botanical gardens with a small group for a picnic lunch. Then we headed for el Museo de Reina Sophia, the modern art museum in Madrid. I got to see Picasso´s Guernica. It´s BIG and very popular. In the room all to it´s self there is a constant group jostling to be able to see over each other´s shoulders. Text book picture don´t do it justice. I´m a little embarrassed to say, I was mildly surprised that it really is in gray colors and that wasn´t just because my textbook publishers were cheap.
I can´t say that I really appreciated the museum though, even if Guernica was awesome. I need to go relearn the significance of the modern art movements and painters. Then on a Saturday when Marty is here (Saturdays are free) I´ll go back. There are, however, some things I just don´t want to appreciate. I was interested to see Dalí´s work, as he is probably the most famous surrealist and the only one I know by name. But in the BYU humanities class they failed to mention that some of his works were far beyond a pg-13 rating. This wasn´t the violent Guernica sort of content. I´m sure he has a great point, but I don´t really want to know what it was any more. I´ll spend that time on one of the other floors.
My little group headed back to the train station so we could head home for the evening. As we were waiting on a bench, one of the girls realized that the train behind us was going to the same place we wanted to be. So she called to get up and run on. She did this as the train was beeping. We realized, as we looked at her through the windows of the closed doors, that the beeping means something. It means you should have ran faster. She had a few minutes of panic and we had a brief moment of sympathy. We caught a train a few minutes later and she didn´t have to wait long. Which is good, because she thought she needed the group ticket that we had to get out of the station (turns out you don´t but none of us knew that at the time).
After that I had a little adventure with Carrefour (Spain´s Walmart) and a misunderstading with the bus system. But that´s ok. Walking is good for your health, right?
The disadvantage was that by the time I got home I didn´t really have time or energy to shower and go to the city festival to meet up with some othr girls. So I wrote on my blog instead!
P.S. I did find my house/familia, Mom. They are very nice. They have wi-fi (pronounced wee-fee here) and don´t mind if I use their computer (fantastic!). They are both members, which is helpful (and not because it means I don´t have to take the bus to church. Church is only a block away). Tomorrow I go to the Spanish ward and on Monday we go to see the fountains at Granja Palace.
First Day in Spain (posted after the fact)
¡Ahora estoy en España! I just got to the hotel where I am staying with another girl from the study abroad. We have no way of contacting each other, so I am waiting in the lobby till the appointed meeting time. The trip was ok. There was the lack of sleep, the headache, and the stomach pain, but nothing that a little caffeine and advil couldn´t fix. Too bad I don´t really drink caffeine. Luckily advil by itself did the trick. Definitely beyond my comfort zone to exchange money at the airport (and only pay $4 for the convenience!), find the bus stop in the frankfurt international airport, transfer to Hahn Airport, wait for 5 hours, and then fly to Madrid. Actually, I think one of the hardest parts was figuring out the how to call the hotel for a shuttle and where I was supposed to be. This required me to actually speak Spanish. Anyway, my novel was way too short. I finished it hours before my Madrid flight. I guess it didn´t really matter though because by that point I couldn´t stay awake anyway unless I was moving. I think I was traveling for about 24 hours in all, but I don´t really have the time difference down yet. I could be way wrong. On a more positive note, I had a really great chocolate and hazelnut filled croissant in the Hahn Airport. I am going to try and stay awake till bed time tonight so I can sleep for a full night and get my sleep schedule adjusted to local time. That means I need to be moving. So I think I´m going to ask the other girl if she wants to go see some stuff in down town, or at least go get dinner. That should be fun. I´ll write more soon!
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